Getting married: The photographer

(It’s a little awkward to be writing this after a long hiatus from talking about my wedding. I’m aware that this is sooo last year, but I have to get this done.)

In preparing the budget for areas I was responsible to cover, I allocated a lot on the photographer — a lot more than my makeup and nikah dress combined! Because it’s one thing I dare not take for granted, since I’m somewhat particular when it comes to photos.

I contacted several of the men who were in my photographer wish list. First, I asked whether they were available on my dates. When they said that they were, I then asked them about their rates.

Most of them cost a bomb (no surprise there). There were still some photographers whose prices were still within the range that I was sort of comfortable with, but at the end, I picked Afnan Omar, because I was won over by his work and his self.

The photographer

From his emails, I felt like he was a nice guy. Reza and I met him this one night and had a chat at his studio (where he then shared with Zul Luey, Joe Zakaria and Fad Manaf), where he showed us his portfolio and discussed the rates. Spent more than an hour just chatting, flipping through albums and learning things about his role as a photographer and the things we should do to get better pictures, like space and lighting.

I thought that the package he offered was good (at the time, RM5800 for 2 events), so I signed up for it. Furthermore, Reza’s friend who’s in the business told us that going for Afnan was good because he’s a rising star (cewah), that we should secure before his rates go sky high.

The deal was sealed for both my akad nikah and reception. In fact, we later did a post-wedding sesh with him, too. Unlike my previous engagement with a supposed professional photographer who ended up not taking my pictures (read about it here), Afnan stressed the importance of having things in black and white — like literally, on a white paper and black jet ink — explaining the things that I’m entitled to, outlining the details of the agreement and my rights should there be issues. I received a copy of the agreement and the invoice. Professional.

At the end of the meet up, both Reza and I agreed that he seemed nice and genuine. Like the kind of guy that makes you feel like you’ve known each other for years. I mean, we liked his pictures — but we liked him, too.

The photographs

See it for yourself! Every picture taken on the day of my akad nikah and reception that’s published on this blog was taken by Afnan and his assistant.

Overall I’m happy with his service and pictures. Although the lighting for both my venues were challenging, he and his assistant managed to make it work.

The full set of pictures (soft copies burned inside DVDs) were delivered to my house about 3 months after the events. Cuma I haven’t gotten the album since I have not decided on the pictures that I want inside them heh. When I’ve decided and have gotten them, I’ll post a picture and a brief review of it here.

Just saying, if you want to hire someone who’s talented in photography and is also nice, down to earth and cool, go look for Afnan Omar. Nah, links to make your life easier: